All done up with a lil Princess tiara.... no she wasn't dressed yet, silly.
These button holes were for us... tad red for my tastes.
Weddingy stuff that Mum brought over from Sibu included:
- A gold chain with a gold cross for Gavin (in the red packet on the left)
- Gold bangles for Fiona (from her inlaws - she left them behind in Sibu)
- A red packet to give to the new couple.
- Red candles stuck inside containers (made by Mum!) filled with rice.
- Red plastic urinal for one of Gavin's little boy relative to pee in. Apparently it's meant to signify the new couple having lots of children.
You would have noticed by now that everything was RED RED RED. That's because it's an auspicious colour. Fiona's mother-in-law bought her all sorts of things that she would need for the big day and everything was red too....down to her undies for the day heheh.
Red heels and red socks to wear with the wedding gown but Fiona put her foot (pun intended haha) and wore the brown boots instead. Good call?
Dad performing the chinese tradition where the father of the bride holds the wedding gown up against the bride 3 times before she puts it on. No idea why.
Then Mum performed her bit of chinese tradition - the mother of the bride combs the bride's hair 3 times while giving her blessings like "May the two of you grow old together", "May you have a gazillion kids". You get the gist.
- Red plastic urinal for one of Gavin's little boy relative to pee in. Apparently it's meant to signify the new couple having lots of children.
You would have noticed by now that everything was RED RED RED. That's because it's an auspicious colour. Fiona's mother-in-law bought her all sorts of things that she would need for the big day and everything was red too....down to her undies for the day heheh.
Red jacket:
Red heels and red socks to wear with the wedding gown but Fiona put her foot (pun intended haha) and wore the brown boots instead. Good call?
Dad performing the chinese tradition where the father of the bride holds the wedding gown up against the bride 3 times before she puts it on. No idea why.
Then Mum performed her bit of chinese tradition - the mother of the bride combs the bride's hair 3 times while giving her blessings like "May the two of you grow old together", "May you have a gazillion kids". You get the gist.
Then came time for the bride to get dressed. So she had to strip down to her super red long johns first heheh. Here she was putting on a red belt underneath the gown because she had to hide these little envelopes of coins on her - waist and shoes. It probably signified her and Gavin being rich for the rest of their lives. Unsure because it was a China tradition and we'd never heard of it before.
On goes the red gown...... just kidding!
Jenn helping Fiona get her shrug on to keep her semi warm.
On goes the red gown...... just kidding!
Jenn helping Fiona get her shrug on to keep her semi warm.
Mum and Dad pulling the veil forward to cover her face.
All ready.
Back view.
All ready.
Back view.
Then the paparazzi arrived and started snapping away.
Bridal bouquet.
Traditionally the bride waits in her bedroom and the groom has to face a series of tests posed by the bridal party before he see her. Gavin was told to sing their song but apparently they didn't have one so he sung some random song. I got him to do 10 pushups too which he did quite easily.
Bridal bouquet.
Traditionally the bride waits in her bedroom and the groom has to face a series of tests posed by the bridal party before he see her. Gavin was told to sing their song but apparently they didn't have one so he sung some random song. I got him to do 10 pushups too which he did quite easily.
Yay he got through!
But if he thought that was it then he had another thought coming. His final task:
Another chinese tradition where they had to eat a bowl of noodles with a hard boiled egg. No doubt to signify a life of wedded bliss.
Meanwhile in a little corner somewhere in the hotel, poor Viv was hiding. Heheh... her chinese zodiac is chicken and apparently it's bad luck to Gavin and Fiona somehow to see a chicken. Complete bull (hehe continuing the animal theme) but we kept Viv out of their way out of respect for Gavin's family.
The couple paying their respects to Mum and Dad before heading out the door to Fiona's new family by serving them tea.
But if he thought that was it then he had another thought coming. His final task:
Another chinese tradition where they had to eat a bowl of noodles with a hard boiled egg. No doubt to signify a life of wedded bliss.
Meanwhile in a little corner somewhere in the hotel, poor Viv was hiding. Heheh... her chinese zodiac is chicken and apparently it's bad luck to Gavin and Fiona somehow to see a chicken. Complete bull (hehe continuing the animal theme) but we kept Viv out of their way out of respect for Gavin's family.
The couple paying their respects to Mum and Dad before heading out the door to Fiona's new family by serving them tea.
Goodbye hugs all round.
Thank you thank you thank you for taking her off our hands, said Dad.
And they are off!
Viv came out of hiding once the newly weds left.
Sending off the couple and their entourage.
We had time for a quick nap before someone came to take us to the restaurant. There was a giant air-filled decoration in front of the restaurant's entrance with Fiona and Gavin's chinese names printed on it.
Flowers-covered archway leading into the reception area.
Thank you thank you thank you for taking her off our hands, said Dad.
And they are off!
Viv came out of hiding once the newly weds left.
Sending off the couple and their entourage.
We had time for a quick nap before someone came to take us to the restaurant. There was a giant air-filled decoration in front of the restaurant's entrance with Fiona and Gavin's chinese names printed on it.
Flowers-covered archway leading into the reception area.
Bride wearing her red parka cos she was cold with the twins. Actually we all wore our jackets throughout the whole lunch. No one saw the nice top I had on underneath. It was THAT cold. They probably thought we all came from some backward village and lived in trees. We DO NOT, Marty!
Happy couple sitting directly in front of the stage.
The wedding favours which Viv and I consumed cos we were staaaaarving...... except for the ones made with milk for obvious reasons.
Shot of the rest of the room.
The alcohol on offer.
Then it was time for the reception to start officially.
The MC was apparently some big shot actor from JiNan and only did this as a personal favour to Gavin's dad. I'd never heard of him and to be honest, he was a bit obnoxious.
I sat next to Mum on the stage. We didn't realise we would be asked to go up to the stage so were a bit surprised. I contemplated taking my puffy jacket off but Viv and Jenn didn't so meh. The guests probably thought we were Amish or something.
Bride and Groom giving Mum and Dad a bow to signify their respect and gratitude.
Dad was also ambushed and asked to say a few words. Gavin's dad had asked Dad the night before and it was agreed that Gavin's dad could do the talking. Dad still did well.
Then came the obligatory kiss. Hey, that's enough. I don't want to see that!
All of a sudden, the stage erupted!! They had a row of fireworks and those paper poppers lined up across the edge of the stage. It was pretty cool! Made a heck of a mess though.
On with the food!!! We sat at the main table and Gavin and Fiona tweaked the menu a bit so we had different food to what the mass crowd had. Jenn the ingrat kept gazing wistfully at the food the others were having though and kept saying, "Oh look sui jiao (dumplings)". Everything was served in individual portions and the waitresses brought a new dish every 30 seconds. It was a real marathon effort trying to keep up, I tell ya. I had 4 or 5 dishes in front of me at one stage. Towards the end I just started shoving food down my throat instead of really tasting it.
The wedding favours which Viv and I consumed cos we were staaaaarving...... except for the ones made with milk for obvious reasons.
Shot of the rest of the room.
The alcohol on offer.
Then it was time for the reception to start officially.
The MC was apparently some big shot actor from JiNan and only did this as a personal favour to Gavin's dad. I'd never heard of him and to be honest, he was a bit obnoxious.
I sat next to Mum on the stage. We didn't realise we would be asked to go up to the stage so were a bit surprised. I contemplated taking my puffy jacket off but Viv and Jenn didn't so meh. The guests probably thought we were Amish or something.
Bride and Groom giving Mum and Dad a bow to signify their respect and gratitude.
Dad was also ambushed and asked to say a few words. Gavin's dad had asked Dad the night before and it was agreed that Gavin's dad could do the talking. Dad still did well.
Then came the obligatory kiss. Hey, that's enough. I don't want to see that!
All of a sudden, the stage erupted!! They had a row of fireworks and those paper poppers lined up across the edge of the stage. It was pretty cool! Made a heck of a mess though.
On with the food!!! We sat at the main table and Gavin and Fiona tweaked the menu a bit so we had different food to what the mass crowd had. Jenn the ingrat kept gazing wistfully at the food the others were having though and kept saying, "Oh look sui jiao (dumplings)". Everything was served in individual portions and the waitresses brought a new dish every 30 seconds. It was a real marathon effort trying to keep up, I tell ya. I had 4 or 5 dishes in front of me at one stage. Towards the end I just started shoving food down my throat instead of really tasting it.
First up: Lamb chop... nice and tender.
Mushrooms or seaweed or something... didn't try it.
Rice porridge... weird thing to have at lunch.
Sharkfin soup with sea cucumber roe. That round thing next to the spoon was apparently the roe of sea cucumbers and you can only find 1 kg of the stuff in every 200 kgs of sea cucumbers on average. So it was very rare. I didn't eat it. I poked it and it felt spongey. Yick.
Roast chicken leg and duck meat - yum yum.
Panfried potato slice and bbq pork - the potato was my favourite out of everything else.
A roast potato, a fried steamed bun and a big steamed bun - weird combo. I think I took a bite out of everything.
Obligatory greens dish.
Prawn in tomato-based broth. Not a fan.
Fish.
While we were busy keeping up with the waitresses and playing musical dishes, Fiona and Gavin were going from table to table toasting the guests with Gavin's dad. We do this in Sibu too so it's no surprise. But the biggest difference is that in Sibu, the food is the main attraction. Most people that come to the dinner are just there for a feed and don't really care what is going on up on the stage, be it a speech, someone singing etc. Come 9 pm when all the food had been served and consumed, everyone heads out the door. But here in GaoMi, people really did come to give their blessings to the couple. They all head out the door once the toast was done. Each table still had heaps and heaps of food leftover. Very sweet but what a waste of food!
Fiona modelling her second outfit for the day:
Shot of Fiona and her new family. Gavin has a small head. Mental note to self: never ever stand next to him. Stupid giant Hii head genes.
The bridal ride.
Giant Xi (means happiness) air filled decoration stood next to the front door and red lanterns and red cloth hung over the entrance.
The townhouse where the newly wed stayed at in GaoMi,
The living room:
The bridal suite with the super red bedspread. Note the photo on the wall. Gavin's dad hung that up for them while they were out gallivanting. Tsk tsk tsk.
Some new daily necessities were placed next to the bed and they were all red. Hang on, why would they need ciggys?
Close up of the subtle bedspread.
More red stuff in the wardrobe with buns on top of them. There was some sort of weddingy significance to it.
Had to take a pic of this adorable ciggy and matches set.
Different packaging of the wedding favours (which we took lots of as our snacks in Beijing).
The final chinese tradition was still to come - playing tricks on the newly weds. Usually the bridal party and the bride & groom's friends would play these obnoxious games with the newly weds and it would usually be suggestive. Gavin warned his friends not to be too disgusting because his inlaws and sisters in laws would be present. Check out the videos of poor Gavin being tortured!
So that officially marked the end of all the weddings. Phew. Anyway welcome to the family, Gavin. You have definitely been put through your paces.
Mushrooms or seaweed or something... didn't try it.
Rice porridge... weird thing to have at lunch.
Sharkfin soup with sea cucumber roe. That round thing next to the spoon was apparently the roe of sea cucumbers and you can only find 1 kg of the stuff in every 200 kgs of sea cucumbers on average. So it was very rare. I didn't eat it. I poked it and it felt spongey. Yick.
Roast chicken leg and duck meat - yum yum.
Panfried potato slice and bbq pork - the potato was my favourite out of everything else.
A roast potato, a fried steamed bun and a big steamed bun - weird combo. I think I took a bite out of everything.
Obligatory greens dish.
Prawn in tomato-based broth. Not a fan.
Fish.
While we were busy keeping up with the waitresses and playing musical dishes, Fiona and Gavin were going from table to table toasting the guests with Gavin's dad. We do this in Sibu too so it's no surprise. But the biggest difference is that in Sibu, the food is the main attraction. Most people that come to the dinner are just there for a feed and don't really care what is going on up on the stage, be it a speech, someone singing etc. Come 9 pm when all the food had been served and consumed, everyone heads out the door. But here in GaoMi, people really did come to give their blessings to the couple. They all head out the door once the toast was done. Each table still had heaps and heaps of food leftover. Very sweet but what a waste of food!
Fiona modelling her second outfit for the day:
Shot of Fiona and her new family. Gavin has a small head. Mental note to self: never ever stand next to him. Stupid giant Hii head genes.
The bridal ride.
We then headed to Gavin's grandparents house where they were staying at. There was another giant air-filled decoration bearing their names at the entrance to the house. They had also put down a red carpet to lead to the house. You could see all the residue of the firecrackers they had been letting off on the ground.
Giant Xi (means happiness) air filled decoration stood next to the front door and red lanterns and red cloth hung over the entrance.
The townhouse where the newly wed stayed at in GaoMi,
The living room:
The bridal suite with the super red bedspread. Note the photo on the wall. Gavin's dad hung that up for them while they were out gallivanting. Tsk tsk tsk.
Some new daily necessities were placed next to the bed and they were all red. Hang on, why would they need ciggys?
Close up of the subtle bedspread.
More red stuff in the wardrobe with buns on top of them. There was some sort of weddingy significance to it.
Had to take a pic of this adorable ciggy and matches set.
Different packaging of the wedding favours (which we took lots of as our snacks in Beijing).
The final chinese tradition was still to come - playing tricks on the newly weds. Usually the bridal party and the bride & groom's friends would play these obnoxious games with the newly weds and it would usually be suggestive. Gavin warned his friends not to be too disgusting because his inlaws and sisters in laws would be present. Check out the videos of poor Gavin being tortured!
So that officially marked the end of all the weddings. Phew. Anyway welcome to the family, Gavin. You have definitely been put through your paces.
